My Host Family
I haven’t given many details about my host family. Let me say that I adore them. I may need a chart to understand how they are all related, but I adore them. They have been nothing but gracious and hospitable to me since I walked through their door. I spend my time between Rania’s parent’s house and her brother’s house. I have grown rather close to her brother’s family. They have four children and another on the way. If you are my friend on Facebook you have seen the youngest one’s picture her name is Rahaf. She is the cutest thing ever, but she is a handful. She reminds me of my niece. She isn't afraid of anything and she loves to love on people. Marwa is the second girl and she is bright and a beautiful child. There are two more children in the family, older and they kind of do their own thing. Rania's parents are farmers so that means fresh vegetables and fruit every day. They won't let me out the door in the morning without breakfast, and if I don't eat breakfast they always end me with something to eat. I'm trying to teach Rahaf Barney songs. Evil laugh.
Weddings
Not less than a week after I arrived in Hebron and I found out I was going to a wedding. Rania's sister Hannah was getting married. Well I didn't know anything about a Muslim wedding or what it entailed, and I sure didn't bring any clothes to go to a wedding so off to town we went to buy me a top and some shoes to wear to the wedding. It was pretty simple actually. Weddings are a big deal here, but a wedding here is different than what you would imagine. In the states, for the most part you have the ceremony and then the reception. In Hebron, all the females start showing up at the bride's house (remember that most single women live with their parents) around one. The women only are allowed at the house. They sit around and talk and wait for the bride to show up in her wedding dress. Before that happens, we eat. It is the only meal we eat all day. No one told me this. So we eat, then Hannah shows up. She looks as beautiful as any bride should look. This is her day. There's lots of dancing even before we get to the wedding. Which I expected to be ceremony like any other wedding ceremony. Obviously I should have done my research. Being a theology student and having an understanding of Christian weddings as a worship service I was totally confused. Apparently in the Muslim tradition the ceremony itself is done anywhere from a few days to an entire year before the actual wedding itself. The wedding is more dancing of the females of both families and the groom and bride. It's like the Bride and Groom are making their declaration to each other for the first time in public. Then there is cake! The whole thing ended at around 11 pm. It was a long day.
Latest Events
I have so much more to write about, but I think everyone wants to here about what's happening and what has transpired over the last week. If you live under a rock or don't read the news or are just too busy ( Charity and Seth) last Thursday night 3 young men,yeshiva students, were kidnapped. Let me give you some background here.
Hebron is the largest city in Palestine. It is separated into two section H1 and H2. H1 is under Palestinian Authority and H2 is under Israili authority. No Palestinian is allowed to go into H2 unless they have a pass and only those that live there have passes. H2 is where the settlements are and most of the settlers are vicious. They destroy property, threaten Palestinians, and just hate the Hebronites. The IDF allow for the abuse to go on because honestly there is nothing the can do. They also arrest people for no reason and then hold them without charging them and then "interrogate"them. This includes children as young as 12. Some children are arrested for simple things like throwing rocks. Then again children are targeted by IDF as they are on their way to school or as they are doing kid things like playing football. In the West Bank there have been protests to be in solidarity with the hungar strike that is going on in the prisons. I think they are on day 55. The Knesset has just voted to start force feeding which is against the Geneva Convention.
With that little back ground, I hope that helps you put things into perspective. Now back to the current events.
3 Jewish settler students went missing on Thursday. The press put a blackout on the story and no one knew anything until Friday evening. Since that time rumors have been flying, theories have been thrown about, collective punishment has been dished out, and hundreds arrested. Every day I go to work hearing more stories from my coworkers about things that have happened in their neighborhoods and I hear stories from my students about what has happens to their houses.
I am thankful that I live South of the Old City. We haven't had any disruptions or anything like some of my coworkers.
One of my coworkers was woken up in the middle of the night by a flash grenade going off right by his window. It broke the window. He hears gunfire every night. And I believe he doesn't have electricity.
Another of my coworkers, is without electricity as I'm writing this and sometimes doesn't know if she will come into work because of the unrest in her area. Tonight she picked up a flyer that said the settlers would attack her area at 6pm tomorrow night. Emptions are running high. No one knows who to blame.
One of my students had her house broken into and ransacked by settlers. My heart was breaking as she told me and to know that there was nothing that could or would be done.
As for the rumors some say Hamas. Some say it was just a crime of opportunity. Some say it's a hoax. Some say now they know how we feel. Some say it is the only way to get attention. This is the most confusing place I've ever lived, and I'm trying to understand it all.
Salaam
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